Another month, another blood draw ❤️

Some days Callum still struggles with the poke. 😢 The good news is, his counts are still great and we're now moving to an every other month schedule!

Logan's new school starts earlier, which means he gets out earlier. So, right about the time I had to take Callum to his Dr appt, Logan was supposed to be getting home from school. I let him walk home a couple of times last year on his own when this happened with Callum's Dr appts, but generally we were only gone about 20-30 minutes before Callum and I would get home soon after. Today was going to be a longer stretch so I prepped him ahead of time.

I'm happy to report, he did fantastic!! He DID call me about 4 times 🤦🏼‍♀️ - the first time he was actually freaking out, because Daisy had let herself into the house (thru the doggy door) but isn't supposed to be in the same area as Odin (since they sometimes fight). So Logan wasn't sure what to do. Luckily, he calmed down enough to listen to me and I walked him through what to do so that he could manage the situation by himself. The other calls were more of him checking in on us, to see how things were going and when we'd be home (I think he also liked chatting with me on the phone). 😊

While home alone, he also walked down to the neighbor's house to take care of his job feeding their fish, and finished his reading homework assignment. And, while the dogs caused him some anxiety, it didn't stop him from feeding them dinner!! Which was completely unexpected since I hadn't asked him to take care of the dogs while we were gone! I was pleasantly surprised and quite proud of our kiddo. 👍🏼

Tennis!

I decided to sign the boys up for a tennis (group) lesson today at our neighborhood Rec center. They aren't interested in football or rugby, much to Jon's chagrin. And they've lost interested in soccer and basketball, sadly. So, I thought we'd try out an "individual" sport this time, since I'm beginning to think part of the issue is, they just aren't into the regular ol' fashioned team sports.

(Keep in mind, I got an EARFUL from them before the lesson, about how much they did NOT want to try tennis and HOW COULD I sign them up for something else without talking to them first). *sigh*

It was BLAZING hot today, but the boys stuck through and actually were laughing and smiling the entire time. Amazing!! No complaints and they stuck it out. Afterward, they both said they had a great time, and Logan even asked me if he could do more tennis, instead of soccer or basketball. 😱

So, we shall see! I honestly don't care what sport they do, but I *would* like them to do something active, so this would be good. And bonus if it means practicing 2 minutes down the hill. 😎

(I had to throw in the last pic of Callum running around the court with the machine that picks up balls as you roll over them - I'm pretty sure that was his favorite part) LOL

Hello 2nd Grade!

Had a hard time keeping up with this one! Our 2nd grader is off to a great start!! 👊🏼

4th Grade starts today!! ❤️

He did NOT want his pic taken, so this was the best I could steal while waiting for the bus (which was waaaaay too early I might add)!! 😴😬😬😆

Solar Eclipse time babeeeeee!!

Super cool!! The boys enjoyed it (but only looked up a few seconds before they went back inside). Oh well. :)

Daisy

The 2.3 seconds of the day today, where Daisy sat still. 😉

Loganism.... or Callumism. Take your pick.

Logan just asked me if planes existed when I was a kid. 🤦🏼‍♀️

When I said yes, Callum asked, incredulously, "Seriously?!?" 😩

👵🏼👵🏼👵🏼

Last week of summer camp!

This is the boys' last week of summer camp!

They're at an art camp all week - Logan is loving it! Callum has taken some time to warm up to it (he had a rough start on Monday morning), but seems to be liking it ok now. He prefers the clay modeling/sculpture projects more than the sketching and drawing. :)

The first half of the day is focused on an Animé/Cartooning theme while the second half of the day is focused on a Star Wars theme. Thus, some of the Pokémon and Star Wars characters you see in their sketches here. :) They're both doing fabulous work and we are enjoying everything that they're telling us and bringing home to share each day!

(These sketches aren't copied or traced! I think they are given some pictures as reference to take direction from but otherwise need to draw them on their own)

Back-to-school Shopping

Headed to the store to get some back-to-school shopping done.

Naturally, we left with new sunglasses. 😎

Frappuccino Friday

The boys finishing their baking class yesterday, with an awesome raspberry mousse cake and ice cream. They decided to save the cakes to take home so that Daddy could enjoy some too. :)

After, we celebrated the end of the week with their new favorite drink, frappuccinos (essentially a milkshake!). They also got back out on the ranch (after several missed weeks) to get some horseback riding in! All in all, a great ending to a fun (but long/sick) week. :)

Haircuts!

The boys got their hair cut today (finally!!). We saw another boy walking by with longer hair in front/on top and shaved in the back and I pointed it out to the kids - and they both said they wanted to try that out! I was shocked, since they HATE getting their hair cut and have loved keeping their hair long. So, that's what they told Woody (their barber) and that's what he did!

I couldn't get any good side shots where you see how short the back is, because they kept moving around and wouldn't let me get any close ups. But, I did get a fair number of cute ones of them together, just the same. 😍

He's a working man!

Logan has his first (official/paying/not from Mom or Dad) job!!! He's feeding the neighbor's fish and cleaning the pond for the next few months while they are away. It's a short walk down the hill from us, and the job is easy enough, so it's really quite perfect for him to take on, on his own.

I can't tell you how giddy with excitement he is about this - it's really pretty cute. 😍

Baking Class

This week, the boys have been taking their baking class at Sur La Table. They've been enjoying all sorts of sweets - but funny enough, so far anyway, I think they like the cooking class they did a few weeks ago, more than the baking class this week! 😃

Catching up on old flicks

Since it's summer, and we've all been sick, I thought it would be fun to watch some of the old movies I grew up with.

But! Netflix and Amazon don't carry a lot of my favorites 😱 thankfully, the good ol' library came through with several options for us. 😉